Quality of Life of Post Stroke Patients and their Caretaker in Chennai

Abstract

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in India. Around 2 million Indians suffer from stroke everyyear in India, and the most important cause of severe adult disability. Stroke not only severely affectsan individual’s quality of life, but also their caretaker’s. This burden can result in a deterioration of thecaretaker’s health, social life, and psychological well being such as, emotional health, morale, work life,finances, social mobility, interpersonal relationship and their own family. Here in this study, the quality oflife of 50 stroke patients and their caretaker staying in a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, South India, isassessed using a pretested and validated questionnaire EuroQol EQ-5D-5L which contains questions in 5domains in which each dimensions having five response levels and The EQ-VAS scale which records therespondent’s overall current health on the day of examination on a vertical visual analogue scale from 0-100.The data were entered and coded in Microsoft Excel and analysed based on their frequency, proportion,and severity. About 80% of stroke patients return home after the acute hospitalization and at least onehalf of them require permanent or temporary help from other people in the home setting. Many caregiverssuffer from anxiety/ depression. This study will be useful in analysing the QOL of the patient’s and theircaretaker’s and provide us a new perspective in not only treating the physical aspects of stroke but also itspsychological impact.